Line-casting machine



P 3, 1929- s. E. SPERRY LINE CASTING momma Filed May 22, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet VIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I p 3, 1929- s. E. SPERRY LINE CASTINGMACHINE Filed May 22, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 vwentoz n amue/E. :Sjoerry, Y %r% Patented Sept. 3, 1929.

UNITED STATES 1,727,314 PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL E, SPERRY, OF HOLLIS, YORK, ASSIGNOR TO IN'TERTYPE CORPORATION,

or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A

CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.,

LINE-CASTING MACHINE.

Application filed May 22,

The present invention relates to improvements in line casting machines and. more especially to devices of the general class shown and described in Letters Patent No. 436,532 granted on September 16, 1890 to O. Mergenthaler, wherein matrices and expansible spacers stored in magazines are delivered therefrom, by manipulation of a keyboard, and assembled in a line which, after being brought into casting position in front of a mold, is j ust-ified by expansion of the spacers therein, following which metal is injected into the mold from a metal pot to cast a type bar or slug in the mold and against the type characters borne by the matrices composing the line.

Machines of this class usually employ a' plunger for forcing the molten metal from the metal pot at the appropriate time and they also usually employ a justifier bar which comes into engagement with the wedges of the expansible spacers and expands the spacers to fill out the line to occupy the entire space between the vise jaws which engage the ends of the line and confine the line endwise during the casting operation, and in order to prevent squirting of molten metal between the matrices in the line which would occur if metal were injected into the mold and against a matrix line which contains an insuificient number of matrices and spacers to fill the line completely, a safety stop is usually provided in such machines which remains inactive if the expansion of the line by the spacers is sutlicient to till it out completely but which will 'be set to prevent a metal injecting operation of the metal pot plunger if the matrix line is not completely filled out, the safety stop thus depending for its control upon the presence of a sufficient number of matrices I and expansible spacers in the matrix line to completely fill it. i I

The primary object of the present '1nven-- tion is to provide novel and improved means whereby the safety stop for the metal pot plunger will be caused to remainin inactive position when the machine is being operated to cast type bars or slugs from matrix lines which contain no spacers, thus enabling casts to be made notwithstanding the absence of spacers from the line.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for compressing and confining the matrix line endwise to close any spaces thatmight exist between their fiat sides as for ex- 1928. Serial No. 279,732.-

ample when an insuflicient number of matrices has been introduced into the line to completely fill it, such compression or confinement of-the matrix line during the casting operation precluding any danger of a metal squirt through spaces between the matrices in the line. a

Another object of the invention is to pro-' vide means whereby the safety stop for the metal pot plunger will be caused to remain inactive to permit a cast to take place and endwise compression and confinement of'the matrix line during the casting operation may be eifected by a single manual operation by the operator of the machine and which may be accomplished by the operator while occupying his usual position at the keyboard of the machine. a

To these and other ends, the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations and arrangements of parts all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the features of novelty being pointed out particularly in the claimsat the end of the specification.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 represents a vertical section through the casting mechanism of a line casting machine to which the present invention is applied; j p

Fig. 2 is a detail view on an enlarged scale and in top plan of one of the vise jaws of the machine, and a portion of the justifier bar, showing the present invention applied thereto; I i

Fig. 3 represents a transverse vertical section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. '2 and looking in the direction of'the'arrows;

Fig. 4: is a detail perspective viewof the vise mechanism showing a matrix line without spacers occupying the position between the vise jaws, the justifier bar, and the means provided by the present invention for insuring release of the metal pot plunger and for also compressing andconfiningthe matrix line endwiso during casting operation; and Fig.5 1s a deta1l view'of portion of the safety stop for the metal pot plunger.

Similar parts are designated by the'same reference characters in the several views.

The present invention is applicable generally to'line casting machines of the kinds adapted to cast type bars or slugs from matrix lines, it being especiallyapplicable however to machines of the class shown and described in the patent hereinbefore referred to. The preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings and will be. hereinafter described in detail, but it is to be understood that the invention is not restricted to the precise construction shown as equivalent constructions may be used and such will be included within the scope of the claims.

In the construction shown, 1 designates generally the vise mechanism of a machine of the class hereinbefore referred to, the vise mechanism comprising usually a so called fined jaw 2 and ainovable or adjustable 3, the space between the opposed faces of" the jaws being adapted to receive a matrix line M which is lowered into position be tween the jaws by the so called first elevator of the, machine, in a manner well known to those skilled in the art.

lrepresents the vertically movable j ustifier bar commonly used in machines of this class to expand wedge spacers in the matrinline to causethe latter to fill out completely the space between the faces of the vise jaws, 5

represents the mold in which the type bars or slugs are cast, the mold being movable forwardly to bring its forward face into contact with thematrix line positioned in front of it, Grepresents the metal pot which contains a supply of molten metal and is provided with a mouth-piece .7 which is adapted to be brought into contact with the rear face of the mold when the metal pot is moved forwardly in a manner well known to those skilled in the art, the metal pot containing a plunger 8, the actuating rod 9 of which is pivotally connected to a lever 10 pivoted on a stationary party of. the frame at 11 and provided with a spring 12 which acts in a direction to force the plunger 8 downwardly and thereby discharge molten metal from the metal pot through the mouth-piece and into the mold whereby a type bar or slug is-cast in the mold and against the character bearing edges of the matrices in the inatrixline.

Thepump plunger is timed and controlled in its operation by a cam 13 which is fixed on the main cam shaft 14 of the machine and cooperates with a roller 15 carried by an arm on the lever 10, this roller being pressed toward the periphery'of the cam by the spring 2 12 and the cam having a recess 16 in its periphery into, which the roller 15 drops when the recess reaches the roller, whereupon the pump plungerf8is'forced downwardly bythe spring 12 and metal is injected into the mold to cast the type bar or slug therein.

The continued rotation of thecam 16 causes the roller 15 to ride on the outwardly inclined surface 16 of the recess whereby the pump plunger is retracted, and theremainder of the periphery of the cam 13 is shaped and located to support the roller 15 in a position where the pump plunger will be held in its raised or retracted position as shown by the full lines in Fig. 1.

The justifier bar 4 in machines of this gen-,

to fill out the latter so that it will completely occupy the space between the vise jaws, the forward or free end of the ust-flier lever being arranged to, act on one of the guide bars 17 for the justifier bar and being pivoted on.

a stationary part of the machine by the pivot 19, the justification lever being forced upwardly by the action of a spring 20 and the justification lever being released at appropriate times to permit it to operate, by a cam 21 which cooperates with a roller 22, this roller being pressed against the cam under the action of the spring 20 andthe cam having a recess therein which when it reaches the roller 22 will permit the justification lever to rise under the action of the spring 20 and to thereby force the justifier bar l upwardly to expand the wedge spacers contained in the matrix lines when machines of this class are operated in the usual manner.

Machines of this class are commonly provided with a safety stop which will prevent metal injecting operation of the metal pot plunger in the event the matrix line and spac- .jection 26 having a nut-shaped upper end'and a cooperating lock nut which are threaded on the lower end of that part of the rod 24 which is of larger diameter and is above the lug 25, the collar 26 being thus adjustable vertically on the rod 2 1-1and projecting more or less below the part thereof of larger diameter so that it will be engaged and lifted by the lug 25 onthe justilication lever 18 when the latter rises above its normal range, of justifying movement, the vertical adjustment of the collar 26 on the rod '24 enabling the collar to be set so that it will beengaged by the lug 25 at the proper point in the rise of the justification lever. The upper end of the rod 24 is movable vertically through a slot formed in a relatively fixed bracket 27 and has a head 28 thereon the upper surface of which is bevelled Ill? and arranged tocooperate with a stoplever 29 which is pivoted at 30 on the bracket 27, the lever 29 extending around the head 28 sufficiently to retain the rod24 in the slot, the end of the stoplever 29 opposite to that engaged by the head 28 being movable into and out of the path of a stop projection 31 which is fixed on the pump plunger actuating lever 10, and a tension spring 29 stretched between the bracket 27 and the lever 29 acting to hold the latter in its normal position out of the path of the stop projection, 31. The parts of the stop mechanism are so arranged that the stop lever 29 will normally occupy a position out of the path of the stop projection 31 and the upward justifying movement of the justification lever 18 will be arrested by the wedges of the spacers engaging the justification bar 4 before the lug 25 comes into engagement with the collar or projection 26 on the rod 24 when completely filled lines of matrices are presented to the casting position, so that the stop mechanism may remain inactive and will permit the metal pot plunger to operate without interruption, but if an incompletelyfilled matrix line is presented to the casting position, the justifier bar 4 will rise, during the justification operation, to an abnormal height, due to lack of resistance from the spacers in the line and the lug 25 on the justification lever 18 will then come into contact with the collar or projection 26 on the rod 24 and will cause the latter to move upwardly, the bevel head 28 on the upper end of this rod then acting on the stop lever 29 to swing it about its pivot so as to bring its free end into position beneath the stop projection 31 on the lever 10, andthe latter will then be locked against descent under the action of the spring 12 and there will be no metal injecting stroke of the metal pot plunger 8 until the faulty condition has been remedied.

In certain classes of work, it is desirable to cast type bars or slugs from matrix lines which contain no spacers. If it were attempted to operate the machine as heretofore constructed with the pump plunger safety stop as described, with lines without spacers, the absence of'spacers in the line would allow the justification bar 4 to rise to an abnormal height and the safety stop would be actuated, .in the manner hereinbefore described, to lock the metal pot plunger against operation, and hence no cast wouldtake place. The present invention provides means which may be easily and conveniently manipulated by the operator from his usual position at the keyboard of the machine to prevent operation of the safety stop to lock the metal pot plunger against operation when it is desired to cast type bars or slugs from matrix lines without spacers therein, and the present invention also provides means conveniently operable by the operator for compressing and confining the matrix line endwise to insure close contact of the flat faces of the matrices and thereby prevent a squirt of metal between matrices in the line during the casting operation, the means for preventing locking operation of the safety stop and for compressin gand confining the line endwise being preferably combined in asingle part or mechanism. I

In carrying out the present invention, a step or shoulder 32 is providedwhich moves with the ustifierbar 4, it being formed preferably as a part of the lug 33 which may be secured to the justifier bar 4 or its framework, and a member 34, preferably in the form of a bar, is movable to and from a position to be engaged by the shoulder or step 32 and when it is engaged by the shoulder or step 32 it arrests further ascent of the justifier bar before the lug 25 on the justification lever has engaged and lifted the rod 24. The member 34 is composed of a bar which is angular or otherwise shaped in cross section so that it is non-rotatable on its longitudinal axis and is slidable in the member 35 which supports the right hand or so called fixed vise jaw 2, this bar extending in parallelism with the length I inner end of the bar 34 has a downturned foot or projection 36 thereon which is movable in a path which lies in the plane of vertical movement of the step or shoulder 32so that when the bar 34 is pushed inwardly to bring the projection 36 thereoninto a position above the step or shoulder 32, the latter may rise until it engages the lower end of the foot 36 but further rise of the step or shoulder 32 and hence of the j ustifier bar 4 is then prevented, so that the justification lever 18 is prevented from moving upwardly a distance suflicient to lift the rod 24 and setthe locking lever 29 in locking positionfand hence a cast may be made against the matrix line notwithstanding that such line contains no spacers.

The bar 34 is preferably provided with a knob 37 at its outer end which projects beyond the end'of the vise mechanism and may be conveniently pressed by the thumb of the operator occupying his usual position at the keyboard of the machine, it being-simply necessary for the operator to press the knob 37 to push the bar 34 inwardly until the foot 36 thereon is in a position above the step or shoulder 32 and to manually hold the knob under pressure to maintain the foot 36 insuch position during the casting operation, the knob 37 being thus pressed immediately prior to the justification and casting operations, I

and after the casting operation has taken, place, the knob 37 maybe released and the bar 34 retracted to a normal inactive position where its foot 36 is out of the path of the step or shoulder 32. Preferably a spring 38is provided for retracting the bar 34 to its normal inactive position and for yieldingly holding it in such position, and the bar 3 1 is preferably provided with a stop pin 39 which is arranged to engage the inner end of the vise carrying member when the bar 34 has been fully retracted to its normal inactive position as shown by the full lines in Fig. 2. The bar 34 is also preferably provided with a stop pin which is arranged to engage the outer end of the vise carrying member 35 and thus arrest the'inward movement of the bar 34 when the foot 36 thereon has reached operative position above the step orshoulder 32, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2 and the full lines in ,Fig. l.

The bar 34 thus serves, when actuated, to arrest the ascent of the justifier bar 4 before the metal pot plunger, safety stop is actuated to lock the metal pot plunger against operation,'n0twithstanding the absence of spacers in the matrix line. It is also desirable to pro vide means for compressingand confining the matrix line endwise so that no squirt of metal may take place between the matrices in the line in the event an insuificient number of matrices has been introduced into the line to completely fill it; Such endwise compression and confinement of the line is accomplished preferably by mounting the member 35'which carries the vise jaw 2 so that the member 35 may slide in a direction toward and from the opposed V186 aw 3, the member 35 in the present instance being shown mounted to slide 7 in a relatively fixed guide 41 attached to the usual vise frame of the machine. The member 35 and the vise 2 fixed to it are yield ingly held in normal retracted position by a tension spring 42 which is connected at one end to the member 35 and at its opposite end to a plate 43 fixed to the stationary guide 41,

the spring 42 normally holding the stop shoul- (are on the sliding member 35 against the relatively fixed guide 41.

However, when the knob 37 is pressed inwardly to shift the bar at inwardly and bring the foot thereon into a position to engage the step or shoulder 32 carried by the justifier bar and thus prevent locking of the metal potplunger when a cast is to be made from a matrix line which contains no spacers. the thrust thus applied to the knob 37 will be transferred through the spring 38 to the member 35 which is engaged by one end of the spring 38 and the thrust thus applied to the member 35 will overcome the tension of the spring 42 and will cause the member 35 and with it the vise jaw 2 to move from their normal retracted position in a direction to carry the vise'j aw 2 against the adjacent end of the matrix line introduced between the vise jaws and the vise jaw 2 will thus be caused to exert an endwise compression upon the matrix line which will insure close contact of the flat faces of the matrices composing the line, and as the operator maintains pressure upon the conveniently operable means whereby line castin machines equipped with the usual casting mechanismsafety locking means to prevent operation of the metal pot plunger in the event an incompletely filled matrix line is presented to the mold, may be operated to cast type bars or slugs from matrix lines which contain no spacers and which ordinarily would cause locking of the metal pot plunger so that no cast would take place. By associating the member which arrests the ustify ing movement of the justifier bar so that it will not actuate the safety locking means with the'movable mounting for the normally fixed vise jaw in the manner hereinbefore described, safety against squirting of molten metal between the matrices in the line, in the event the line has not been completely filled with matrices, is insured by the same operation which prevents locking of the metal pot plunger.

I claim as my invention 1. In aline casting machine having vise jaw mechanism to receive lines of matrices, justifying means and casting mechanism including a stop therefor actuated by the movement of the justifying means to prevent a cast from taking place, means carried by the vise jaw mechanism to arrest the movement of the justifying means and thereby prevent actuation of said stop means.

2. In a line casting machine having vise jaws to receive lines of matrices, justifying means to act on spacers in the matrix lines and to be normally arrested in its operation by such spacers, and casting mechanism including stop means therefor actuated by abnormal movement of the justifying means, means movable in one of the vice jaws to be set into and out of position to prevent abnormal movement of the justifying means in the absence of spacers in the matrix line.

3. In a line casting machine having vise jaw mechanism to receive lines of matrices, justifying means operative to expand spacers in'the lines and normally limited in its operation by such spacers, and casting mechanism including'a stop therefor havingmeans for rendering it active when the justifying means operates beyond its normal range, means operable on the vise jaw mechanism to close the of spacers in the matrix line and thereby prevent actuation of said stop.

4. In a line casting machine having vise jaws to receive matrix lines, justifying means operative to expand spacers in the matrix lines and normally limited in its extent of operation by such spacers, and casting mechanism including a stop actuated by the justifying means when it moves beyond its normal range of operation to lock said casting mechanism against operation, a member cooperative with the vise jaws to confine the matrix line endwise and movable into the path of the justifying means and engageable thereby to arrest the operation of the justifying means before the latter operates sufliciently to actuate said stop.

5. In a line casting machine, the combination of vise jaws to receive matrix lines, one of said jaws being movable toward the other, justifying means for expanding spacers contained in the lines, casting mechanism including a metal injecting plunger and a stop operative by the justifying means to prevent operation of said plunger, and a member movable into a position to arrest the operation of the justifying means before the latter operates, said member concurrently acting on said movable vise jaw to move it against the adjacent end of a matrix line.

6. In a line casting machine, the combination of vise jaws to receive matrix lines between them, one of said jaws being movable toward the other, justifying means for expanding spacers contained in such matrix lines, casting mechanism including a stop therefor having means for actuating it by the justifying means, and a member mounted to move longitudinally of the vise jaws to bring it into the path of the justifying means to arrest the operation thereof before the latter actuates said stop, said member also act ing on said movable vise jaw to move it toward the other vise jaw.

7. In a line casting machine, the combination of opposed vise jaws to receive matrix lines between them, one of said jaws being movable toward the other, justifying means for expanding spacers contained in such lines, cast-ing mechanism including a stop therefor actuated b said justifying means, and a member mova 1e longitudinally of said movable vise jaw to bring it into a position to arrest the operation of the justifying means before the latter actuates said stop, said member acting concurrently on said movable vise jaw to move it toward the opposed vise jaw.

8. In a line casting machine, the combination of opposed vise aws to receive matrix lines between them, one at least of said jaws being movable toward the other, justifying means for expanding spacers in matrix lines, casting mechanism including a stop actuated by the justifying means to prevent a cast ing operation taking place, a member movable into a position to arrest the operation of the justifying means before the latter actuates said stop, and yielding means between said member and said movable vise jaw for moving the latter toward the opposed jaw to clamp a matrix line between the jaws.

9. In a line casting machine, the combination of opposed vise jaws to receive matrix lines between'them, one at least of said jaws being movable toward the other, means acting to normally hold said movable jaw in retracted position, justifying means for expanding spacers in matrix lines, casting mechanism including a stop actuated by the justifying means to prevent a casting operation taking place, a member movable longitudinally of said movable vise jaw and into a position to arrest the operation of the justify ing means before the latter actuates aid stop, and yielding means between said member and said movable vise jaw for moving the latter toward the opposed vise jaw when said member is moved in a direction to arrest the operation of the justifying means and for retracting said member and holding it in normal retracted position.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

SAMUEL E. SPERRY. 

